Introducing the George Jackson Initiative
Fordham Prep is proud to announce the George Jackson Initiative( GJI) to advance our commitment to the values of dignity, belonging and justice. GJI has two components: First, it is an endowed scholarship to support Black students with demonstrated financial need of tuition assistance. Second, it establishes a new mentoring program to serve first generation college-bound students from all backgrounds.
Over a 12 month period, generous donors committed $ 1.4 million to this effort. While much of this support has been directed as endowment gifts, other donors have made“ current use” donations.
With this announcement, we are pleased to invite prospective donors to consider additional gifts in support of GJI.
Background of GJI
GJI aligns closely with the mission of Fordham Prep and the purpose and history of the Prep’ s endowment. The Initiative has successfully attracted remarkable grassroots support in a short period of time.
The Prep’ s diverse student enrollment is one of its most valuable assets. Attracting qualified young men to the Rose Hill campus regardless of their families’ ability to afford the Prep’ s tuition is at the heart of our Catholic Jesuit mission. These outcomes don’ t happen by accident. They are credited directly to the generosity of donors to the Prep’ s endowment. In fact, the endowment provides the single most important sustainable resource supporting the Prep’ s socio-economic diversity.
Each year, most of the investment revenue drawn from the Prep’ s $ 52 million endowment funds tuition assistance for hundreds of families from modest means regardless of their background, race or ethnicity. The list of need-based scholarship beneficiaries— which includes Black and Hispanic students and first generation immigrants from Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa— is as diverse as the New York City metropolitan area. Without this support, these families could not afford a Fordham Prep education.
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Respecting donors’ intentions, some scholarships within the endowment direct financial aid to young men from specific backgrounds, as long as they demonstrate need. Over the years, donors have established scholarships to support the sons of single mothers and those of NYPD and FDNY officers. Others designate their scholarships to benefit young men of Irish or Italian ancestry, graduates of the REACH Program, or to young men who live in the Bronx or Yonkers. Still other scholarships direct tuition assistance to middle income students from Westchester County or from a multitude of individually named parishes and parochial grammar schools throughout the Archdiocese of New York.
Until recently Fordham Prep’ s endowment included no scholarship that specifically supported Black students with demonstrated financial need. Last summer, this oversight was rectified. In response to the societal reckoning on racial justice stirring throughout our country, Mr. Tim Brosnan’ 76 P’ 12 approached Father Devron with the idea to establish a new scholarship to support Black students from families of limited financial resources.
At the same time, other donors across multiple generations and diverse backgrounds, including Black alumni and parents and current and past members of the school’ s Board of Trustees, reached out with similar requests: Would Fordham Prep expand its commitment to include more Black students in need of tuition assistance? Would we accept donations to make this happen? And would we agree to develop a mentoring program for firstgeneration students of all backgrounds?
About George Jackson’ 76
The answer was not only a resounding and grateful“ yes,” but also that we knew the perfect candidate for whom to name this new initiative.
Thus was born the George Jackson Initiative, honoring the cherished memory of George Jackson’ 76( RIP). George was Tim Brosnan’ s classmate and lifelong friend; the former President of Motown Records; a past Fordham Prep Trustee and Hall of Honor inductee; and namesake of the George Jackson Academy.
Jackson grew up in Harlem and attended Bishop Kelley Junior High, where he met his future Prep classmate Brosnan, with whom he forged an extraordinary bond. While the two went their separate ways after high school-- Jackson to Harvard and Brosnan to Georgetown-- the friendship created in junior high and reinforced on Rose Hill never wavered. George Jackson passed away in 2000 after a severe stroke.